Humming
by MandolinDoodler
Summary: They roughly grabbed his arms and hauled him up so they could drag him out. He instantly struggled to get out of their grasp so he could run, but their grips were steel. [Slight mention of torture, changed cover]
1. Chapter 1

He remembered when he had first arrived. A blind fold was tied over his eyes and two rough hands were wrapped around his upper arms. He struggled in their vice-like grip, but it didn't take him long to realize that he wasn't getting out anytime soon. As they neared their destination, a humming could be heard echoing through what he assumed was the corridor he was being dragged down. Closer and closer and the humming kept getting louder until even the sound of footsteps was lost.

Without warning, they came to a halt. He could feel someone moving beside him before the humming came to a sudden stop. One of the hands let go only to be replaced by a different hand as he was pushed forward. The blindfold was ripped from his face and he was harshly thrown to the ground. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings back and when he did, he only had a moments time to look back and capture a glance of the white clad agents that had brought him there.

They gave him evil smirks, then the one holding the door took his hand away. The humming came back like a tsunami attacking his ears and, with it, the light left. He could _feel_ the humming coursing through him in rapid vibrations that made his head dizzy. It would be days before he would get used to that feeling and that overpowering sound.

He had tried standing up once, but the vibrations flowing through the floor and the dizziness in his head forced him to sit back down. After a few more tries, he was finally able to stand, though he felt he was on a rocking boat in the middle of a raging sea. One shaky step at a time, he made his way to the wall. He placed his hand on it to steady himself and could still feel the vibrations shaking it.

Taking a chance, he forced intangibility into his hand and pushed on the hard surface. The wall refused to give into him proving it was ghost proof. He couldn't say he was surprised considering he was in a ghost hunting facility, but it was worth a try. Instead of wasting his energy, he decided it was a good idea to find a corner that he could sit down in, so he started working his way across the wall, one hand on it at all times.

One foot after the other, he just kept going; the wall seemed to go on forever. At one point, he went to place his next hand in front of him on the wall only to find it moving beneath his fingers. His hand shot back to his chest instantly. It was bad enough being in total and complete darkness, he didn't want to accidentally lose his hand, too.

Deciding to give it another shot, he inched his hand back to the wall, but this time he hovered just above it. A soft breeze graced his fingertips and palm in an almost calm way. He stepped so that he was facing the speeding material and moved his hand to the left, still hovering, to see how far the gap was. It was only a foot or so later that the breeze vanished. At the same time he saw a flash of blinding light.

His eyes squeezed shut and his grip on the wall was almost lost in his surprise. Opening his eyes again, he was met with the same darkness that was there before, no light to be seen in the whole room. Passing it off for the time being, he continued on his way past the moving section and back to solid wall to find out where the next wall began.

After a few minutes, he still had not found any corners or other imperfections except for that one gap. He was starting to think that maybe he was in some endless hallway that was made just to keep him walking forever and ever. Forgetting that thought, he went to place his hand down again only to find it move like what happened just minutes before. The breeze was still there and the size seemed to be about the same as the other one.

Figuring he could investigate it later, he moved on. A few minutes later, he came upon another moving wall and minutes after that, he found another one. As he approached what he assumed was the halfway point, the flash of light came again. This time, he wasn't looking directly at the wall, so the flash left an imprint on his mind of the area in front of him.

What he noticed was that the wall didn't seem to go in a straight line, but more like one curving to the left. With that, he thought back to the steps he had been taking. He had had to adjust each one because his feet kept hitting the wall and he always had to angle them the same way; to the left. He hadn't been walking in a straight line for the past however many minutes, he had been going in circles. That means that he wasn't coming to a bunch of moving wall sections, either.

He sighed in defeat, not that it could be heard over the constant humming. His hands released their grasp on the wall and he made his way back to the center of the room. He wasn't going to spend any more time walking in circles today. Instead, he laid down on the cold concrete floor to rest. He had had a long and tiring day.

Not only did he have to fight Skulker and Ember, but he had to run from the Guys in White. Unfortunately, that had epically failed, because he they had captured him anyways and in his human form, too. His body was also sore from the many darts that implanted themselves in his skin while fighting the "Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter," and he was getting a serious headache from not only getting hit by Ember's guitar, but the insistent humming, too.

He could take a break for a little while. The GIW wouldn't try anything right away, at least he hoped they wouldn't. With that optimistic thought, he let his eyelids droop down and a different kind of darkness overtake him.

* * *

He was rudely awakened when a blinding light invaded his mind. He squinted his eyes open and saw a dark figure coming from the source of the light. He sat up quickly, ready to fight if he had to. He noticed the figure had two things in his hands. In one was some sort of tray and the other had an ectogun aimed at his chest.

"Eat up now Phantom; it'll be awhile before you get anymore food," said the agent.

Danny could only stare at him while the tray was dropped in front of him. The agent retreated, the gun still aimed at his chest, and then the light was gone and the humming that he hadn't noticed was gone, came back.

He sat there for a minute with nothing going through his half-asleep brain. His stomach rumbled and he glanced down at it, then to where he thought the food was. He really wanted to eat, but he also really, really didn't trust the GIW. Yet, the smell of the food was actually appetizing and his hand started making its way to it without his consent. The last time he had eaten was when Skulker had thrown a little boy's lunch box at him and the sandwich in it landed halfway in his mouth. That was early yesterday morning.

He needed his strength if he was going to get out of there and especially if the agents tried anything on him. If he was going to eat it, though, he was first going to make sure there wasn't poison in it. He bent his head down so his nose was just above the food, and took it a long, deep breath. After so many months of dealing with Skulker, he had learned how to analyze food and such for signs of ghost and human poison.

Holding the breath for a few seconds and poking at the meal, he let out a relieved sigh. There was nothing particular that he could sense in the meal; no poison that he had ever experienced was hidden in there. Still a little apprehensive, he took a chunk of food with his hand and placed it in his mouth. It smelled pretty good, the texture wasn't complete mush like the food in the school cafeteria, and the taste was decent. If he was forced to eat this for a while, at least it wouldn't be too much torture.

The plate and tray were soon clean of the food and the pitiful glass of water that had come with it. While he was eating, he saw another flash of light that blinded him like the other ones. This time, he got a different picture left behind of what looked like an open doorway. He was starting to wonder if the flashes would be a normal thing like the humming and vibrations.

Now, all he could do was wait. His finger traced over the edge of the tray and the pattern on it. Zig-zag, zig-zag, zig-zag. A sigh escaped his lips and he plopped his hand down on the piece of plastic. He was getting bored of just sitting there and doing nothing. He had already felt the place up and down the day before, and he hadn't found any way to escape besides, possibly, the moving section of wall. But how could he possibly get out through there?

His mind soon wondered to his family and friends. Were they looking for him? Did they even know he was gone yet? Not long ago, his parents had figured out his secret and, after a month or so, were finally able to wrap their minds around the idea of their son being half dead. His mom had spent countless nights crying in her room because she could only think to blame his "death" on herself. Jazz had to finally sit down and talk with her to get her to let it go. His dad officially made Danny his sidekick, even though everybody knew that, if anything, Jack was the sidekick.

He was sure that they would start freaking out about him missing soon. It would start with calls to Sam and Tucker asking if they had seen him, and that would turn up negative. Then Jazz might get a call and she would freak out even more than everyone else, because she's an overprotective sister. Next thing you know, everybody is turning the town and Ghost Zone upside down just to find him.

They would want to save the GIW facility for last, though, and he knew it. There was no way that they would even consider him being brought there and tortured and experimented on, because that would break their hearts. They'd rather Vlad have kidnapped him just because Vlad wouldn't actually cause him any more pain than a broken leg or arm, and that was just to show superiority. The GIW would do much worse things to him, but he really didn't want to think about that at the moment.

Right now, he needed to think of some sort of plan. It was painfully obvious that he was going to be there for a while if he waited on everyone else to rescue him. He racked his brain to find something that might be of some kind of help to him. Then, he remembered that when the agent brought him his food, he had the door wide open. All he'd have to do was get pass him and avoid the gun to get out. Of course, once he got out, there was a whole new set of problems to deal with, but he could improvise for those. He did it all the time in a normal battle, why would this be any different.

Oh yeah, he normally fought ghosts, not humans. He couldn't just go shooting one of the agents and expect to not feel extremely guilty after-wards, even if they were all jerks. He could still get in a few good punches and kicks, though.

He sighed. He was back to waiting again. The next time he could try to escape was probably hours from now. What was he supposed to do in a humming room surrounded by complete darkness? Well, almost complete darkness; the flashes of light still came every once in a while. At least those could keep him company.

* * *

After what felt like forever of staring into deep nothingness, the monstrous humming came to a stop. His eyes snapped to the door and didn't take long to adjust to it while an agent came walking in, only there was another one that came in behind him. They roughly grabbed his arms and hauled him up so they could drag him out. He instantly struggled to get out of their grasp so he could run, but their grips were firm as steel.

Once fully in the light, the humming came back and the third agent there saw him struggling. With a black gloved fist, he brought it to Danny's gut in an attempt to shut him up. It worked like a charm, and he was left gasping for air as they brought him to some unmarked room in an unmarked hallway. Before he knew it, he was strapped down to an examination table with white clad agents all around him.

His mind was racing now as his eyes darted from one place to another around the bleach white room. He knew this was going to happen soon, but he didn't want to believe it was actually happening this soon. He was supposed to have had time to try an escape at least once before anything this serious happened. Heck, his family should have gotten him out before this happened!

An agent came over with a pair of menacing scissors in his hand. He lowered them onto Danny's shirt to cut it off so they could see his bare chest. As the scissors moved up the the fabric to his chin, Danny could feel the cold metal sending goosebumps across his chest and even on his arms. The shirt came completely apart at the collar when the scissors gave an audible snap.

His breathing was starting to get panicky as he watched one of the agents roll a table of tools over to him. _This is not happening, this is not happening, this is NOT happening!_ That's all he could get to go through his brain. The agent in front of him slowly pulled a latex glove on his bare hand and then hovered it over the many tools at his side. He'd go to reach for one, then pull his hand away as if in thought, just to go for another tool and pull back again.

This was torture to Danny and the agent knew it. He was dragging it out on purpose, just to make Danny more nervous. Smirking behind the mask on his face, he gave an evil glinted look at the halfa on the table before him and grabbed the scalpel. The last thing Danny remembered besides the screaming and intense pain that came after, was the point of the metal creeping towards his chest.

* * *

**Updated: January 20, 2013**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been weeks, maybe even months, since he first arrived to the facility; since he had first been cut open just for the pleasure of some disgusting GIW agents. Since that first incident, he had been the subject to numerous experiments and torture devices.

Just the other day, they had brought him into one of the training rooms for the agents. There, they chained his fragile wrists to one of the targets so he wouldn't try to run away. Apparently they had created a new weapon that was supposed to shock the ghost until it passed out, then stop. It made him pass out all right, and pretty fast for that matter, but it didn't stop after that. Even being unconscious, he could feel the shocks tease the back of his broken mind while he laid in his dark prison.

That was just a minor injuring compared to some of the things they had done to him, though. In the beginning, he had a tendency to try to fight back to stop the pain or cause the agents any sort of pain he could possibly inflict on them. He would yell insults and kick at them and even spit at them just so then they might understand how much he loathed them and wanted them out of his life. The agents decided that they had to get rid of that little tendency, though, so they would punish him every time he tried.

Whether it was whippings or a harsh beating within an inch of his life, it didn't make a difference to him or them. Within a week, he had given into them, following all their orders and commands like a well trained puppy. Two weeks into his stay, and he had given up on his family and friends coming to save him. He had even had some sort of sick hope that Vlad of all people might come to his rescue, but the days ticked by and he was still stuck in his own living hell.

His only sanctuary was his small cell. There he could forget about the abuse and torture inflicted on him and pretend that he had a chance of getting out to see his family again. Laying in the pitch dark listening to the constant humming, he could also try to ignore the hallucinations from all the different drugs the agents had put into him.

Sometimes, he would be looking around the room and see someone from the outside world. Jazz would sit with him for hours running her fingers through his unruly black or white hair and just talk to him. He would tell her about how he was strapped into a funny looking chair that day that sent shocks racing through his body or about the new weapon that spits out an acid that only burns a ghost's skin. Other times, he would see one of his enemies like Youngblood. He'd usually be running around the cell and, on the days Danny could actually stand, they would play games together. Sometimes, they would pretend to be pirates and other days, they would just sit and tell scary stories to each other.

It wouldn't be until late in the conversations that he would realize they were never actually there. They were just delusions created by the drugs coursing through his bloodstream and infecting his delicate brain. On some occasions he would catch himself talking to one of them, usually his mom, dad, or Vlad. He'd pause for a moment, then tentatively stick his hand out to touch them just for it to fall right through and the image would vanish before his eyes, leaving him to listen to the humming again.

It seemed the only thing he could rely on being real was the humming and vibrations. No matter how much blood he had lost or how many syringes had been poked into his arm, the hum and vibrations were always there to comfort him. Of course, he also could rely on the flashes of light. Those still came just as frequently as the sun came up and the moon went down.

One day, he had been sitting in his cell with no one to talk to and no plans of leaving since the day before had lead to a major injury which also meant a day of "freedom." So he sat in his personal room in the dark and watched the flashes come and go. Eventually he figured out that there was the same amount of time between each one. It also didn't take him long to realize that the agents always opened the door right when one of the flashes was supposed to come.

They'd always come in groups of two or three, -the agents, that is- one of which would just stand at the opening while the other one or two came in to take him away or give him food. He noticed that the one by the door always kept one hand holding onto what appeared to be the frame. But, being delusional at the time, he didn't think much of it. It could have been the key to some insane adventure or even the one thing that could lead to his freedom, but he couldn't care less, because in his mind, it was just a strange coincidence.

So he continued on with his mundane life as a torture dummy. He didn't question why the agents came the same time the flashes should and he had long since stopped questioning why he was the one that had to be captured by monsters like them and hurt so bad even though he was the good guy. At least, he thought he was the good guy. It was getting hard to remember who he was before all the darkness and pain. Even the faces of the people he thought must have been his most loved ones, were becoming blurs to him.

Some nights, he would torture himself with trying to remember them; remember himself. It had been so long since he had even seen himself. He knew, somehow, that by the standards of the outside world, he probably looked like a mess. There was always blood on him, dried and fresh, and he barely got enough food to survive. It was literally only enough to keep him alive enough and strong enough to handle all the experiments.

He could easily wrap his thumb and finger around most of his bony arm, and could count each of his ribs on his chest just by feeling them. His face felt different than what he remembered it being when he first sat down in the middle of his room and even though he talked to the hallucinations of his mind, he wasn't sure how much of the conversations were out loud and how much were just in his head. He couldn't remember the last time he actually heard his voice, either. All noise was drowned out by the loud humming.

For all he knew, he didn't have a voice to speak with. The last time he had screamed from pain was completely lost to him.

* * *

He was thrown to the concrete floor, silent tears streaming down his filthy face. Today, they had cut him open again, just like the first day he was there. The doctor had crudely bandaged his burning chest; all it had to do was slow the bleeding until is could start healing. It would take longer than normal since the tools had been covered in an acid that would keep it from healing right away like it would for a normal ghost or even a halfa. Now, he was stuck with the healing speed of an average human so the pain would also last as long as it would for said human.

Today, he had screamed his lungs to exhaustion. It was the first time he had heard his own voice for a while and it wasn't pretty. Even now, his bloodcurdling screams echoed in the back of his mind, even over the humming, and reminded him how soar his throat was. As he lay on the concrete listening to the sounds intermingle with his labored breathing, he came to one conclusion: he wanted out of here, and fast.

He tried digging through his brain for some sort of solution to his dilemma, but it was hard to think over the pain racing through his body. _Come on, Phantom, think! _His thoughts were too jumbled, though, to get anything done. All he wanted to do was rest right now. At least he would have plenty of time since the agents wouldn't be doing anything to him for a couple days.

He unwrapped one of his arms from his chest and it bumped into something. They must have brought him something to eat when they brought him back from their "session." Feeling too nauseous to eat, he pushed it aside so he could lay down more comfortably. He rolled over so he was laying on his back looking up to the ceiling, when he saw a familiar flash of light across the room. Thinking back to that day he had sat watching them go by, he began counting in his head: _1, 2, 3, 4..._

60 seconds went by without a flash. 120 seconds passed. 300 seconds down the drain.700 seconds and still nothing. 900 seconds later, and light filled the room for barely a moment before disappearing once more and Danny began to count all over again. _60, 500, 650, 800, 900, flash._ And again, and again, and again.

Soon, his mind started to wander, the counting almost forgotten, but not quite. _120,_ the ever constant humming and vibrations. _436,_ the agents coming and going, bringing him food or dragging him away for experimentation. _670,_ periodic flashes of light blinding him every fifteen minutes. _900, flash,_ an agent standing with his hand held to the side of the door. Danny's eyes went wide.

An agent always stood there with his hand on one side of the doorway. Was that all it took to keep the door open? Was that the reason the humming would stop, because the door was being held open?

Slowly, he sat up and began crawling to the moving section of wall, cringing every time pain shot up his thin frame. Going to the side of it, he leaned against the unmoving part and prepared one of his hands. It was almost time for another flash and he was going to try something that could potentially lose him his hand. At least if that happened he could have a chance to bleed to death instead of suffering more experimentation.

His hand moved closer and closer to the rushing wall and he could feel the slight breeze coming from it. _889,_ only a few more seconds to go. His fingertips were barely brushing against the wall as the final seconds ticked by. 900 hit and he quickly shoved his hand forward at the same moment the flash came. His eyes had forced themselves closed and his body had tensed in preparation for pain.

Instead, he realized that his hand was, in fact, still intact and he could still feel a breeze against his fingers. There also seemed to be something gently resting against one side of his hand that felt just like the walls, except it had depth like it was the side of one, not the face. He also noticed that his hand was farther away from him than it was when normally touching the moving section.

Relief struck him as he realized that his theory was right. All he had to do was hold each piece of wall open in order to get out. The only problem was that it would take fifteen minutes to get to each section and, for all he knew, there could be hundreds of moving walls. He didn't exactly have the patience or energy to wait that long just to get out. Besides, the GIW would be coming back soon to get his food tray and he didn't want to be caught in the middle of an escape in the condition he was in.

Wait, his tray, of course! If all the agents had to do was hold the first door open, then all he had to do was get something lodged somewhere over there, and his tray could be the perfect object to use. Just as a precaution, he moved his hand so that only one finger was barely touching the side of the first section of moving wall. Even with that gentle touch, the piece stayed where it was.

He took a minute to take it all in. He had just figured out a way that he could, potentially, get out of this prison he had been stuck in for months. If he got out, the pain would stop, the torture would stop, maybe he could even get his sanity back. But he couldn't waste his time getting his hopes up right now. Every time he had done that, they had come crashing down and it hurt too much to try to recover from that.

Right now, he should just focus on getting out. He had still been counting and there were still a few minutes left to go before the walls lined up again to form a glowing doorway to freedom. He removed his hand from the wall and felt it stall for a few moments to realign before moving along with the other walls. Sluggishly, he crawled back to the tray, still full of food, and grabbed it. He pulled it up and let the food carelessly fall to the floor.

With great effort, he sloppily stood up so he could throw the tray properly. Once he was up, his left hand automatically moved to clutch his still burning chest. Then, he waited. _799...815...867...880... _almost there..._896... _ready the tray_...897..._deep breath in_...898..._muscles tensed_...899..._NOW! Just as the flash came, the tray went speeding down the corridor of light. He waited, half expecting to fail, half expecting agents to come running down to grab him for punishment for trying to get out.

To his surprise, the light stayed and blinded him while filling his whole being with some sort of hope that he might actually see the stars and sky again. His eyes got used to the brightness and for a moment, all he did was stare. He then crept forward into the heavenly light and closer to his freedom, all the while his chest tightened with anticipation.

When he got to the end, he paused for a moment before tentatively peeking his head over the side. He expected there to be guards waiting to tear him apart, but there was no one waiting. There was just the familiar hallway that he had been dragged down countless times to his near doom. He walked out and turned to kick the tray back down to the main room of the cell. He didn't want them to be able to notice the absence of the humming. With that done, he started on his way to the door on the other side of the room. His heart beat wildly in his chest which his hand still clutched.

The knob to the door easily turned; they hadn't seemed to bother locking any of the doors. He supposed they didn't expect him to get out anytime soon, if ever. He cracked the door open just enough so that he could see out. There were white doors with various labels on them, lining the hall. He barely caught a glimpse of an agent walking into a room and closing the door firmly behind him.

He took that chance to start sneaking down to the opposite end where a split happened. He wasn't very fast, he knew that, but he went as fast as he could while not causing himself too much pain. One by one, the doors passed by. His heart was nearly as loud as the humming in his ears as he anticipated the GIW coming to get him, but nothing jumped out at him; the entire building was completely silent.

He made it to the end of the hall and carefully looked both ways into the hallways going out from the one he was in. No agents in sight, not even ones going in or out of rooms or passing by the end of the halls. He was starting to worry; there should be floods of agents on his heels right now dragging him back to the humming cell far behind him. Besides the one person he had seen on his way there, there were no other signs of life in the facility.

Trying to forget his worries and focus on his goal, he took a left since he remembered the agents always took him right. They would want him as far away from the exits as possible, so the right must lead somewhere in the middle of the building. He passed through more hallways and corridors with no incidents and soon he set his eyes on an exit. Two white doors waited patiently for him, beckoning for him to come closer and he obeyed moving a little faster.

Already he was starting to forget all of the horrible things that he had been victim to in the horrible facility. Everything was being washed away with the moonlight that he could see through the small windows centered on the doors. A smile grew on his pale face, stretching it out and moving muscles that hadn't been moved in what felt like forever. He was almost there, almost to freedom; he could practically feel it.

With a great push, the doors came flying open and he burst into the eyes of the moon-and a couple dozen Guys in White agents. The smile dropped instantly from his grimy face as fear gripped at his insides.

They had heard the humming stop for that brief minute and they had predicted where he was going to go. They managed to be one step ahead of him by waiting at every possible exit with weapons at the ready. There was no way they were going to let their favorite practice dummy get away so easily. If he wanted to get out, there would be a great deal of fighting and probably blood.

He was frozen in fear. None of his muscles would listen to him, they just stayed stiff as stone. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't do anything but stay still. Even his eyes had a hard time moving to get a better look at his surroundings. Only the charging of an ectogun could snap him out of his trance.

His head whipped to the direction of the charge and saw his favorite tormentor looking straight at him with an evil smirk gracing his devilish face. Before his mind could catch up to his body, his legs shot out and carried him into the woods surrounding the building. The agents could barely react as he sped pass them for they had expected him to be taken easily with the detriment of a gaping hole in his chest.

With his mind coming back to him and adrenaline powering his every move and blocking out the pain, he dodged trees and skipped over rocks and fallen trunks. From behind him came a tornado of running footsteps following as fast as they could. The only reason he was able to stay ahead of them was because of his ghost powers enhancing his speed and agility. If he had enough energy to go ghost, then he would, but that vivisection had taken a lot out of him and it would only hurt him more to use his powers at the moment.

He took a second to look behind him, but that second was all it took to let his clumsy show and before he knew it, his face was connected to the cold, hard dirt. The impact sent waves of pain through his weak body and a coarse whimper escaped his dry lips as he curled into himself. The storm of footsteps was getting louder which meant the agents were almost to him.

Danny took a deep, shaky breath and looked to the sky as his vision started to sway in and out of blackness. The stars were easy to see against the deep blue behind them and the moon was almost full. It was, in a word, beautiful and he couldn't help but wish that he was somewhere else -anywhere else- beholding the wondrous sight. He rolled over and began the process of getting back on his feet again.

Home would be a nice place to be right now, he thought. But his parents were ghost hunters and had random weapons laying all around the house. His own room was full of them, at least he thought it was. It was still hard to recall all of his past. Maybe home wasn't the place he wanted to be if he got away from the government agency.

He made it to his feet with one hand grasping a tree branch and the other wrapped around his chest. His vision faded to black for a moment or two before returning to semi-normalcy. The agents were almost to him and he was barely able to stand on his own two feet.

Vlad's house was out in the woods. That would be the perfect place to stargaze since the lights of the city were so far away. Plus, even if he had a lab, it was strictly in the basement; no ectoguns and traps laying around, ready to take him in their grasp. But Vlad hated him, he couldn't just go to the house of someone that hated his very guts. That was like going to that one kid's house. What was his name again? Doug...Dane...Dash? Oh well, all that mattered was that going to his house would be bad because he hated Danny and it would be the same thing with Vlad.

His vision was getting really bad and it was getting even harder to think off track (because he knew for a fact that he wasn't thinking straight). The footsteps suddenly halted, so he took a look around him to see that the white clad men had him surrounded with various types of ectoweapons that were all charging up.

Panic rocketed through him, but he could only concentrate enough to look up to the agents directly in front of him. They all had the same expression of sick pleasure on their faces and it unnerved him even more. That was a look that said that they weren't going to kill him; they were going to bring him back and lock him up so that they could continue the experiments for a long, long time.

He didn't want to go back to that place of torture and insanity. He started hyperventilating, his heart felt like it was going to pump right out of his weakened bones, he couldn't seem to control himself anymore as he felt terrified tears roll down his cheeks. Blackness blinked in and out of his sight and then, unexpectedly, bright light burst from all around him.

He heard the yells of the agents, but that was about all before all of his senses gave out on him.

* * *

**Updated: January 20, 2013**


	3. Chapter 3

_Blackness blinked in and out of his sight and then, unexpectedly, bright light burst from all around him. He heard the yells of the agents, but that was about all before all of his senses gave out on him._

His body felt like it was on fire. Every part of him, all the way down to his littlest toe, burned with intense pain and soreness. If he had a choice, he would dig himself a six foot hole and bury himself until all reality was gone. Unfortunately his arms were much too sore to do anything at the moment.

Not even his eyes would budge open; his lids felt like they had a thousand pounds strapped to them. The agents must have done some nasty things to him to make him feel like this. Usually he wasn't so drowsy, not even when they subjected him to dozens of drugs.

For some reason, he felt warmer, too. It was as if there was a mountain of blankets piled on his limp body. He tried to move so he could feel around him, but none of his limbs would listen to him. He could feel sweat gathering on his forehead and all throughout the rest of his body. It was like a sauna in there. Did they turn the heat up or was this some new type of torture the agents had concocted just for him?

As he lay there, he tried to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. It was obvious that there was no way he was out of the facility; they always kept him on the property. Even in his cloudy state, he could tell that there was little light around him. Maybe he was still in his cell and they had given him a new drug or were making bets on how hot they could get the room before he got too close to becoming a complete ghost. But that couldn't be right since there was a little bit of light, so maybe it's one of the experimentation rooms.

Something suddenly flickered into the view of his mind's eye. A lunch tray, a storm of footsteps, what seemed to be the night sky that he had been deprived of for so long. He had a sudden urge to be at that place right now. He didn't want to be in the hands of the agents any longer, he'd rather be outside with the moonlight shining on his pale face. He would give anything to be there, even though he didn't actually know what was going on there. For all he knew, it would lead to his last breath, not that he would necessarily be against that.

"Danny, wake up sleepy," a voice broke into his thoughts. It was sweet and caring; sisterly. A hand ran over his heated cheeks and up to his heavy eyelids. The cool sensation gave him just the right nudge to crack them open. Staring back at him was a pair of teal orbs that radiated concern for him. "That's it, I was getting worried that you would never wake up. How are you feeling?"

He gave the girl in front of him a blank look for a minute while he tried to get his brain to work. They must of given him a lot of drugs the previous day if he was back to hallucinating. He tried giving Jazz an answer, but his voice refused to work. His throat was much too dry to give off any sound besides a few pitiful mumbling-like sounds, but his lips still moved to the words he wanted to say.

"Everything hurts, Jazz," he said to her. If possible, her face grew even more concerned for her little brother. Her hand moved in the corner of Danny's vision, to grab something above his face. With little effort, she pulled the heavy weight that was on his shoulders and moved her gentle touch to his chest.

He jumped at the contact to the sensitive area and squinted his eyes shut momentarily. Jazz applied little pressure as she ran her lithe fingers over the wrappings that seemed so much neater than what they were when Danny had last seen them. The pain racing through him, though, distracted him from that small detail.

Noticing his discomfort, his sister pulled her hand away and brought it back up to his sweat soaked face. "It's going to hurt for a while longer, Danny; they got you really good, this time." Her thumb traced soothing circles over his cheek as she tried to give him an encouraging smile. He, in turn, tried to smile back, but it turned out more like a grimace due to the sharp stabs of pain in his chest.

Jazz frowned at the plight her brother had fallen into. It wasn't fair that he had to be put through all of this, no one should have to. Danny, seeing this, went to place a reassuring hand on top of the red head's, but instead of feeling her smooth skin, he felt his own heated cheek. As if a breeze had wormed its way into the room, the image of his loving sister dissolved into thin air. He was suddenly aware of the weight that had never actually been removed from his shoulders.

Carefully moving his head, he was met with a wall of plush fabric. Confusion filled his eyes as he contemplated what kind of trickery it could be. The GIW wouldn't do something like this in a million years...unless. Unless they were really out to throw him off.

They just wanted to get him relaxed so that they could surprise him with something completely horrible and unthinkable. But what could they possibly do to him that they hadn't done yet? They tore him open, electrocuted him to the point of slight amnesia, made him scream his very voice out until it was near nonexistent. The only thing they hadn't done was kill him, and the only reason he knew that was because he could see his raven colored bangs hanging in his face and his labored breathing shaking his body.

The sound of soft footsteps cut off his thought process. He decided that it would be best for him to pretend to be asleep if the agent was going to come in. At least if he was "asleep" the monster wouldn't do anything too bad to him. The _thunks_ became louder and louder until they were just outside of the room. A hand took a hold of what sounded like a doorknob and it turned slowly, as if the agent didn't want to wake him.

Danny could feel his heart beating a little faster beneath his sore ribs and he tried his hardest to get it to calm down. Despite his efforts, it still beat like a massive drum within his ears. He heard the door creak open and the footsteps became gentler as they came closer to where he lay.

That's strange, he thought. The agents never tried to be careful around him before. They were always so brutal and rough, not caring about his well-being in the slightest. His confusion grew as something grabbed the end of the fabric he had seen and pulled it from his face. A strong hand was placed on his forehead and stayed there for a few seconds before leaving. The touch felt almost caring, which only continued to throw him through a loop. This was too strange to be anything but a dream.

Before he knew it, a wet cloth was placed over his eyes that sent shivers through his thin form. It felt so nice compared to the warmth that he had been feeling since he had woken up. A quiet sigh escaped his lips and he curled his limbs into himself to form a ball under the weight of the silky fabric. The hand holding the cool cloth lingered for a few moments as if startled by the sound, before it moved away.

He heard rustling beside him like someone rummaging through a bag of some sort. There were clanks of what sounded like plastic against plastic and plastic to a wooden surface. There was a brief silence as the hands that had once left him came back to move the blankets on him farther down until his entire top half was exposed to the chilly air around him. But wait, backtrack a second; _silence?_

There was never silence, not even when he was in one of the torture/experimentation labs. There were always people around him talking or at least machines humming and beeping, but there was only the sound of the fabric being moved. Something was very wrong here, he thought. Even in some of the deeper parts of the GIW facility, he could hear the monstrous humming of his own cell.

He couldn't even hear a hint of that, so he must not be anywhere near there. But where could he possibly be if he wasn't in the government building? Did they move him to another building? Was he even in the hands of the agents anymore or was he with some other maniacs that would subject him to torture and painful experiments?

Breaking through his thoughts, the hands had made their way to his burning chest and grasped the end of the bandages. His heart jumped into action with a furious, frantic beating that almost hurt. His baby blue eyes shot open and his bony arms pushed the stronger hands away from him just to shoot back in an attempt to protect himself. He kicked his feet to scootch his body as far away from the threat as he could.

His panicked blue orbs darted from one place to another in the room, finally taking a chance to really look at his surroundings. He caught glimmers of sunlight across the light blue walls and crème carpet. All around him was an ocean of shimmering fabric and a canopy of the same shade of blue as the blankets. Lastly, his eyes landed on the figure in front of him that had a look of shock on his slightly aged face.

Ocean blue eyes, white-gray hair, white dress shirt and black dress pants with a red bow-tie to finish the whole look off. It took Danny only a moment to realize that it was only Vlad. That explained everything. Obviously, he had reached a whole new level of hallucination; one that made him see entirely new surroundings that even matched the person his mind had chosen as his temporary companion.

His body relaxed at the sight of his arch-nemesis and he could hear his heart and breathing slowing back down. Vlad, who was still startled by the teen's reaction to his touch, simply stared at him in concern. He knew they were enemies, but Danny had never acted that way to him before. He decided to stick to words instead of physical touch for the time being.

"Daniel, how are you feeling?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"Everything hurts," he tried to say after a short pause. His voice failed him once again, leaving only his lips to soundlessly move. The look of confusion on the elder halfa's face and lack of conversation being made, threw Danny off for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. Vlad should be able to understand him loud and clear, not to mention already know what Danny's answers would be to anything he said or asked. All the hallucinations understood him. Why would he have any reason to be confused at his response?

Abruptly, Vlad stood up and walked over to the other side of the room where a wooden door was and went inside. The sound of running water escaped into the main room briefly, then was shut off again. Out came Vlad with a glass of cool, clear liquid. As Danny's eyes followed the man, he started to take in more details about him.

He had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't been getting enough sleep and his usual black suit jacket was missing. The sleeves on his button up were rolled to his elbows and his face seemed dimmer. It was usually covered in an evil smirk and a glint of pride behind his lonely eyes; now, he wore only a deep frown and faded eyes.

Vlad soon reached the bedside and took his place in the simple black chair that had been brought over from a desk on the other side of the spacious room. He stretched his arm out to Danny with the half empty glass of water and said, "drink this, it should help you talk better."

The broken boy hesitantly brought his hand to the cold glass. In the back of his mind, he thought it strange that the man had water with him. He thought it even stranger when he could actually feel the refreshing liquid run down his sore throat. It had been a while since he had had the privilege of water considering the agents had been holding a grudge against him for setting their pants aflame a couple weeks ago.

Less than a minute later and the cup was emptied of its contents. "Try speaking now. How do you feel?" said Vlad, repeating his initial question with a hopeful undertone. Again, Danny went to say that everything hurt and again, his lips moved, but let no sound escape. The frown on his enemy's face grew deeper with disappointment.

Danny tore his gaze away from the man in front of him, preferring to study the sheets instead. Why was Vlad so caught up on his voice today? It never worked before, so he shouldn't suddenly expect it to work now. With some shame and partial anger, Danny muttered-or tried to- a, "sorry," to the elder.

Concern flashed across Vlad's features before he sighed in defeat; he would try again another time. Keeping his shoulders held up to keep his strong facade, he sat up straighter and reached over to the young boy on the bed. Danny flinched back with the approaching hand, his back running into the wall and causing a jolt of pain in his chest. Gasping, he curled into himself and his breathing changed to uneven gasps.

Panic grabbed a hold of Vlad when he saw the boy's pain. He hadn't meant to make him feel so bad, all he wanted to do was change the bandage and check the wound. "Daniel, are you alright? Daniel?"

The question fell on deaf ears, though; ones that were too busy trying to ignore the frantic beating of his own heart. He couldn't focus on anything besides the needles of pain that were attacking his body. Flashes of lab tables and scalpels invaded his mind. Metal cuffs being wrapped around his wrists and ankles, men in doctor's masks looking down on him, the acrid smell of blood and ectoplasm mixing with the poison on the blades of the tools.

He could practically feel the pointed and serrated edges of the blades cutting into him once more. Danny opened his eyes wide, but was blinded by the bright lights that hovered over the examination table. The white suits of the government agents surrounded him on all sides, all with a tool of torture in their black-gloved grasps. He forced his eyes to shut tight to block out the horrible images, but they refused to leave him be.

He knew that it was too good to be true when he woke up in a warm bed with sunlight and water. It was all just one big trick; he never got out, he was still with those same monsters, and he was still being tortured on a daily basis.

Salty tears rolled down his pale face which had broken into a cold sweat. He started to shake his head back and forth, his arms trying to flail away from the threat in front of him. The blades crept closer and closer to his now exposed skin. His breathing grew to the point of hyperventilating as he laid there helplessly on the freezing table of utter doom.

Danny felt the point of the first blade dig deep into his skin, drawing a pool of green-speckled red blood. The agent let it gather enough to start dripping down his abdomen before bringing the blade at a diagonal across his chest. The blood continued to leak out and stain his skin and the scalpel. Another knife came from another direction and cut a crevice from the other side of his chest to meet the first tool. One more cut from his lower abdomen to that same center point, and he had a "Y" carved into his body.

His agonizing screams echoed through the white room, bouncing off humming machines that measured his heartbeat and breathing and that gauged how long he would last before he was too close to death for the demons to continue.

He wished that he was actually in the room with Vlad, or at least looking at the night sky like in his earlier vision. He would give anything to be in either of those places; places where he at least felt safe, even if outside made him vulnerable and Vlad was always out to take control of him.

His pained eyes squinted open and he barely had any time to see an agent reaching down and grabbing a hold of the edge of the incisions. With a menacing smirk, hidden behind his medical mask, he pulled it back to reveal the half-ghost's innards.

Above all the pain on his chest, he barely felt a pinch on his arm and something being injected in him. With one last conscious scream, he let a veil of blackness take over his blurry vision.

* * *

**I edited the first two chapters. No major changes occurred besides me changing Danny's age back down to about late 14 and adding him trying to use his powers to get out (thanks Kakawot). All other corrections were mostly punctuation and grammar mistakes. Reading over these chapters, I realized how angsty they are and had me questioning my sanity a little.**

**I figured I'd post what I have for this story so far; one chapter every other day, or every couple of days. I only have two other chapters close to ready right now, but I've made you guys wait so long that I was really starting to feel bad. My mind has been too scattered lately to work on a straight story like this, so I'll just have to do it as I go like everyone else, if that's okay with you guys. I know I always get annoyed by long breaks between chapters, so hate me if you want to.**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed and please continue to do so because authors thrive off reviews, even the really nasty ones are great to get! Love ya guys! (I swear there was something more I was gonna say...maybe I'll remember later)**


	4. Chapter 4

_Above all the pain on his chest, he barely felt a pinch on his arm and something being injected in him. With one last conscious scream, he let a veil of blackness take over his blurry vision._

Vlad paced across his study. Daniel had been in his possession for nearly two weeks now and was barely making any progress to getting better. His chest still had a gaping hole in it and the smaller-in-comparison scratches and bruises weren't faring well, either.

He had tried every kind of medicine he had on the boy to get him to heal better, but it was all rejected by his body. It was as if it was trying to protect him from the substances even though they were supposed to make him better. If his body kept that up, then it could take several months before Daniel would even be able to leave his room.

The halfa sighed; having the teen finally with him like he had been dreaming about was not as great as he had hoped it would be. All the boy was able to do was lay in his bed and every time Vlad tried to help him, he would either flinch away or ignore him as if he didn't want to acknowledge his presence. And any contact that he did manage to make seemed to send Daniel into some sort of hallucinations that usually ended in Vlad having to inject a sedative into him.

One time the child had nearly blasted the elder man while in one of his fits. If it wasn't for over twenty years of experience, he would have been missing a good portion of his hair. It was getting hard to explain why there were scorch marks all over the walls and floors to the maids who didn't know about his ghostly side.

The only people that knew about that were his most trusted butler, Erickson, and his personal doctor, Dr. Cole. They had known Vlad since in his earlier years after being in the hospital. Dr. Cole was the head doctor that had worked with Vlad and knew he had ghost powers before the college student had figured it out by himself.

Erickson had found out about the billionaire's special abilities by pure accident. His employer was still having trouble controlling his powers at the time, so it wasn't odd for the butler to see him disappear while walking or start sinking through the floor. At those times, he would swiftly excuse himself before the other man realized what was happening, so as to not make him panic. Eventually Vlad caught on and told the worker what had happened to him.

Vlad could have easily made them forget about it all like he did with so many other people that had found out one way or another, but he thought it better to spare these two. It turned out to be a good decision since there were many times that they had saved his life in the last twenty years. Whether it was a training accident or him messing with the wrong types of ghosts, the two men were always ready for him and used to the strange occurrences around him.

When the billionaire called them about a life threatening injury just a few weeks ago, they suspected he had been messing with the more dangerous ghosts again. Coming to his aid and seeing him in perfect health, if not a bit panicky, had thrown them off slightly. When they saw the teenage boy that Vlad had laid in a guest room, they wasted no time in helping.

_Dr. Cole instantly went to the boy's side, starting to unwrap the dirty and bloody bandages around his middle. He kept calm even as the enormous gash and the exposed insides were fully revealed. Vlad hung over the doctor's shoulder the whole time asking questions about what was going on and if the teenager was going to be okay or not._

_The other man answered each question as best as he could without sending the businessman into a spazz attack. The butler was trying to do the same; if Vlad, the normally calm one, was freaking out this much, they had to be the calm ones for once. Erickson allowed his employer to stay in the room knowing he would become anxious and sick with worry otherwise. If he knew what was going on he would at least be a little more relaxed._

_After the Dr. Cole was finished patching the boy up, he took Vlad aside to question him. He knew about the nature of the other man and about his track record. He wanted to get all his facts straight right away instead of finding something out too late._

_"What happened, Vladimir? Did you do this to him?" demanded the brown haired doctor. The billionaire looked surprised at first, especially at hearing his full first name, but rage consumed him not a moment later._

_'WHAT! Do you honestly believe that I would do something like that? I know I haven't exactly been a saint to the boy, but to do something as heinous as this?" Vlad had hurt Daniel plenty of times before, but he cared enough for him to not cross certain lines. It was one thing to rough him up when they were battling, it was a completely different thing to nearly kill him._

_"You always say how much of a pest he is in your life and all the things he does to you. For all I know, you might of finally cracked and decided to actually hurt him just to realize afterwards what you did and regret it. You know I don't intend to turn you in if you did; it only seems logical to me if you really did do this."_

_"Logical? How could something like that be logical? I can control myself perfectly well; there's no possible way I could lose control, especially on him," Vlad refuted the brown eyed doctor, still thoroughly ticked._

_"All ghosts are somewhat evil in nature, even if it's only the tiniest sliver of malevolence. Your ghost half still has that, though you actually control it quite well. You might blame that half for your 'issues' with the world, but the truth is that that all comes from your human side. You were wronged by the world, so you naturally feel resentment towards it; it's a normal human trait._

_"Because the ghostly part of you has been tactfully held back, the evil nature of it has also been held back. Since the first day that boy has come into your life, I've seen that you have more anger problems. The anger stems back to your ghost half which is being provoked by all of the little things Danny does to you. It only makes sense to me that one day you might not be able to hold those angry feelings back and your ghostly nature might take over just long enough to do some serious damage, the only stop to it being you gaining back control."_

_Vlad seemed perplexed for a second at the explanation. He hadn't expected an answer like that from the slightly older man and he really didn't expect it to make so much sense. The billionaire hadn't even known he was getting angrier in the last several months, though he supposed he did feel frustrated more often. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly._

_"I didn't do it. I didn't lose control of my ghost half. I didn't hurt him like that," he finally said._

_"Then what happened?" asked Dr. Cole. There was another long pause._

_"I heard a knock on my door, answered it, and he collapsed into me. I brought him up to the guest room and checked him over as I dialed your number. He was barely breathing and covered in blood, so I had Erickson help me clean him up some before you arrived. I don't know how he got here, where he came from, or what exactly happened to him." He stated calmly._

_The doctor nodded his head. They stayed silent for a little longer before Dr. Cole finally gave Vlad some instructions for if anything happened before he came back, then he took his leave. Once the billionaire heard the car pull out of the driveway, he sluggishly went back into Daniel's room, taking a seat by the bed._

_The butler allowed him to stay there for an hour before he tried to take him out. The man refused to leave the bedside and its contents. Even after all the irrefutable points he brought up, the man stayed planted in the black computer chair. With a sigh he left him for the night. It was obvious the businessman wouldn't be getting any sleep that night and would probably skip work the next day._

The following week went much the same way as that day. Dr. Cole would come in the morning to check on Danny, Vlad would stay glued to the room and general area not eating or sleeping, then come in late for work or skip it altogether. Every day, he looked a little worse than the last with growing bags under his eyes and a deeper slouch.

It wasn't until the end of that week that things started to take a turn. The boy had woken up, but his mental health seemed out of order. Every time someone came near him, he sunk into himself and hyperventilated or went into what the doctor had said was most likely hallucinations. All three of the men had nearly been victims of the teenager's attacks.

Dr. Cole started staying longer after the first few fits so that he could monitor Danny and take care of any injuries that came about. Luckily, only a few scratches and bruises had been inflicted so far. After the last week of observation, he came up with some theories of what might have happened to the broken teenager.

From the straight scars covering most of his back and the hole he had arrived with in his chest, he decided he had to of been tortured in some way. This was proved more by the way he hid from people that came around him and when he saw the tools that were in Dr. Cole's bag. He also hadn't uttered a single word since waking up. The only noises from his throat were that of breathing and the occasional whimper.

Vlad plopped himself into his large brown desk chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really needed to get his mind off the boy right now. He glanced at the stack of papers sitting precariously on his desk. He desperately wanted to get his mind off of Daniel, but was it worth putting himself through hours of paperwork?

He sighed. Yes, because he had to get it all done or else he'd be getting another call from his secretary at the office. Plus, he was already behind on it as it was and Merium, his secretary, was starting to worry about him. The last thing he needed was her pity, though her cookies did taste delicious...no, he'd have to wait for Christmas for those.

Actually, everyone at the office had been getting worried for him. He had barely even shown up in the past week and when he did, he sat in his office all alone. The hybrid wouldn't even let anyone inside; everything just went to Merium so that he could take it back to his mansion. That didn't really help him get it done, though. If anything it made him more likely to put it off so then he could spend time watching over Daniel.

With another sigh, he haphazardly connected his head to the wooden top of the desk in front of him. Vlad heard the doors creep open from across the room. Standing in the opening was Erickson carrying a tray with food and a warm cup of tea. He took a moment to take in the sight of his employer whose head was still down.

Never in his career had he seen the other man so out of it. Usually he had a handle on everything that happened and was ready to take on the world. Lately, he had a hard time just trying to understand what was going on. It almost scared the butler to see him like that. Trying to look happy, the older man walked over to the billionaire.

Hearing the tray being set down, Vlad adjusted his head to look at the graying man in front of him while also keeping it down. His deep blue eyes shifted to the bowl of tomato soup and the grilled cheese sandwich on a plate next to it. Although it wasn't as fancy as he normally ate, he was pleased enough with the simple food. His mind was too clouded to process fancy.

"I know it isn't as extravagant as usual, but I thought it best to keep it simple today. You seem much too stressed as of late; this is just the thing to calm you down," said Erickson. He offered the businessman a smile of reassurance.

Vlad stared on for a minute before replying, "Thank you, Erickson. You always seem to know what I need." A ghost of a smile appeared on his tired face while he took a hold of the sandwich. Taking a bite of it, he didn't notice his butler's smile pull at the corners just the slightest.

Erickson was glad the younger man was finally eating again; it had been nearly two days since his last meal, if you could call it that. The last thing he ate was a couple bites of bagel with cream cheese. The butler was surprised the other man could still function right now. After a few seconds of watching Vlad eat, Erickson took a seat on a couch by the fireplace.

The orange flames licked at the wall of the chimney eagerly, wanting to get out. The butler's ice blue eyes became mesmerized by the wisps flickering this way and that. While he was distracted, he didn't notice Vlad finish his food and come to sit in another chair near the couch. They sat in comfortable silence just staring at the fire and relishing the heat it gave off.

It was starting to get colder outside and the weatherman was already talking about snow in the forecast. The billionaire doubted he was right; the news was hardly ever right in anything it said. At least he knew Daniel was somewhere safe and warm.

He had been worried, when the boy's whereabouts were still a mystery, that he would be stranded in the wilderness or on the verge of death in these upcoming cold months. Topped with what had happened to Amity Park just days after his disappearance, Vlad was over his head in stress and worry. But Amity park would have to wait a little longer; Daniel was his top priority at the moment.

Speaking of the teenager, it had been a while since he checked up on him and now was as good a time as any. With a sigh, he heaved himself from the cushioned chair, "I think I'll go check up on Daniel now," he said to Erickson who gave a nod in acknowledgment.

With that, Vlad strolled out of the room to make his way to the guest room Danny was in. As he neared the oak door, he heard talking coming from inside. Pausing outside the room, he leaned in and listened. Danny's voice was definitely there, though very scratchy and near nonexistent from lack of use. But it also sounded like there was another voice alongside his that was more like a girl. A moment more and he knew it was a teenager, maybe Daniel's age or even a little older.

The businessman hesitantly brought his hand to the door knob. He knew it was a risky move to come in when the boy was awake, but he needed to know who was in there with him. Finally, he turned the knob as quietly as possible and poked his head in.

Danny quickly caught sight of Vlad and automatically shrunk back and stopped talking. The girl across from him noticed and turned around to see what the problem was. It took only a second for a smirk to appear on her pale white face and her eyes to light up with mischief. Vlad just stared, shocked, at the blue haired ghost sitting on the bed.

"What's up Pops?"

**What happened to Amity Park? You'll find out eventually ;) Reviews really keep me motivated, guys, so thanks to those who have reviewed.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Vlad just stared, shocked, at the blue haired ghost sitting on the bed._

_"What's up Pops?"_

The last couple weeks had been really confusing to Danny. He always woke up in a strange room with blankets piled onto him and sun peeking into the windows. It would be a great arrangement if it were real. He had to keep reminding himself that he was still in his cell, albeit a different one obviously, but a cell all the same. And this cell was in the Guys in White facility where they torture and experiment on him at all hours of the day with no hope of leaving.

There was no way he was going to let himself have hope, anyways; never again would he make that mistake. He had hope when he first got there that someone would find him and rescue him, take him away. He had hope that he could fight the agents and protect himself from the pain. He had hope that he could escape on his own and would be with his loved ones again.

But all that hoping only ended him in worse situations each time. He was let down by his family and friends, he was punished for rebelling, and now he was suffering the worst punishment of all: being forced into hoping.

He wanted to give into it so, so bad. It was torture alone having to see all the peacefulness and calm atmosphere, but then he was brutally brought back to the real world. Every day it started so nice, too. He'd wake up to see sunlight and find himself wrapped up like a cocoon. A content sigh would escape his chapped lips when he snuggled back into the fluffy pillow below his head.

Sometimes, there would be some sort of breakfast by the table next to the bed. Usually it was cereal or eggs with a glass of orange juice. The first few days, he was hesitant to eat since the agents never gave him such good food, but after the first taste he was digging in. Real or not, it was better than tasting the facility's trash.

For a while, Vlad would come into the room after he woke up and was eating. That made Danny nervous. He knew that Vlad was just an illusion like all the others from his old life, but this Vlad acted different than the other one. The other one understood everything Danny said and didn't ask questions he couldn't answer.

The Vlad he kept seeing acted like the old Vlad. He asked Danny questions all the time and tried to talk to him. He also had a tendency to reach out to the boy in what he thought was a comforting gesture. All it really did was scaring the teenager half to death and was usually the thing to snap him back to reality.

Danny hated being in the dream world the drugs put him in, but the real world hurt so much, too. He preferred staying in dreamland as long as possible, even if it meant ignoring anyone that came into the room.

The people that visited him generally included Vlad, a man he decided was a doctor, and another man that brought and took away food and plates. The only others that came were women that looked like maids and the hallucinations that he normally saw.

He was fine with the maids; they actually freaked him out the least next to the normal hallucinations. The men were the ones that unnerved the boy. There were always men around him hurting him and putting him down. To see men in his own limbo was unnerving and kept him on edge.

Maybe he'd learn how to deal with it or even find a way to erase them from his illusions, but until then he would ignore them.

Golden rays of sunlight found themselves waking up Danny the next day. He slowly peeped them open and took a moment to let his vision adjust to the change in light. When he was finally able to see his surroundings, he saw the normal tray of food sitting on his bedside table.

He took a moment to take in the usually peaceful sight. The sun was beaming down and hit the glass cup just right so that it reflected around the room. The smell of the pancakes and syrup were intoxicating to his drowsy mind and were ready to take over. A minute more and those delicious looking cakes were going to be in his stomach.

He was wrong, of course. It took less than a couple seconds to gouge down the fluffy goodness. By now he had gotten used enough to this routine so that he didn't give the strangeness of the dream world too much thought. All he had to focus on was quenching his hunger.

Once done, he stayed sitting upright in the bed and reveled the silence that he knew would be broken soon enough. If Vlad was going to come in, he would come around 9 o'clock and that seemed to act as an open invitation to the rest of the hallucinations to come and go as they pleased.

He turned towards the clock on the far wall: 8:45. He had fifteen more minutes completely to himself. Nine hundred speeding seconds; the same amount of time it took for the flashes of light to come in his old cell. Oh how he sometimes wished to be there. At least there he knew what to expect every day and he didn't have to deal with being in constant fear because he barely felt anything in that cell.

In this world, he found he was already starting to feel more and it actually hurt him to feel so much. He had learned to suppress all emotions when he was still in constant reality and that helped him to survive each day of torture. Without that ability, he would just hurt more; if he blocked out sadness and happiness and anger, he was punished less and he didn't register the pain of the experiments as much.

But for now, he would leave all that behind and enjoy the silence. Once people started coming in, his nerves would be up the wall. His jumpiness would only make the pain in his chest intensify, at least until the doctor gave him some medicine. After that, he was just left in a drowsy state until reality kicked back in.

From beyond the door, Danny could hear the telltale signs of Vlad coming up to his room. The maid illusions greeted him on his way up and there was an older mans' voice with them that Danny recognized as the butler. He was no doubt coming to get his tray and dishes, then leaving him alone with Vlad.

The voices quickly died away as the door slipped open and the older half ghost slowly walked inside with the butler behind him. Danny leaned back in the pillows and headrest on the bed and let his eyes follow the two men. The eldest of the three silently picked up the tray and looked Danny in the eyes, giving him a nod in acknowledgment, and left the room.

After a few moments, Vlad spoke up, "Good morning, Daniel. How did you sleep?" Due to past experiences, Danny decided to stay silent like he had the last couple of days, which didn't surprise the older man. Instead of waiting, he continued on with what he was saying.

"You seem to be getting better. You've been moving around more and your fits have become less frequent. You might be able to leave this room sooner than we thought."

This is what would happen every day; Vlad would explain what was going on to Danny who, in turn, gave him a blank stare. The boy had a hard time fathoming why he would care what was going on in the world his mind made for him if it wasn't real and would be gone in a few hours.

In the last week, the illusions began lasting longer than a few minutes and would even last until he went to sleep. He couldn't say he didn't like not having to see any agents for hours on end, but the whole situation was still weird to him. Breaking out of his own musings, Danny realized Vlad was still rambling.

"They say it might snow soon, but the weathermen are horrible at their jobs, so it probably won't. It's actually warmer than it normally is this time of year, though not by much…"

While he was distracted, Danny didn't notice that Vlad was slowly advancing toward him, trying to make it discreet. Obviously, it didn't work and the boy leaned farther back and into himself in fear. The illusion was closer than he normally allowed the ones in this new world to get. He wasn't going to take the chance of having them betray him and turn into agents.

Vlad trailed off on his ramblings when he saw Danny's defensive position emerging and the fear in his eyes. The man knew that that meant it was time for him to take his leave before the younger halfa had another fit. With one last weary glance, he left the room, letting the maids know to leave the boy be for a while before coming in.

Once the billionaire was gone, Danny took a few deep breaths to calm himself and prepared for the day to come.

* * *

The hours passed by as did the maids to clean and the doctor to check up on his condition. Danny couldn't figure out why he would imagine a doctor since he had so many tools in his bag that could hurt the boy, but he went along with it anyways. His mind knew what was best for him, so he'd let it do what it wanted; it hadn't lead him astray yet.

It wasn't until late afternoon that things took a turn. Everyone that had any business to take care of in his room had finished long ago, so he was left to his own thoughts until he fell asleep. That was until a chill ran up his spine and his breath became visible in front of him.

Seeing the puff of air, the boy reached forward to feel it, only to have his hand slip through and

the cloud dissipate. He stared at his hand wondering why it would go through the object when he didn't make it intangible. At the back of his mind, something told him that puff should be significant, and not just because the room was always kept warm.

Suddenly the room got colder and Danny's breath produced more little puffs that floated away from him. Each time, the half ghost would try to grab at them only to have his hand slip through over and over again.

While he was distracted, something phased through the floor of the room, staying a few inches above the carpet when it was fully through. The being took in the large room and all its features before seeing the teen sitting up on the bed playing with air. She adorned an amused expression seeing the frustration clearly on the boy's face.

"Hey Dipstick, we've been wonderin' where you disappeared to," said the pale ghost. Danny started and looked over to the other teen, a smile lighting up his features. He hadn't seen Ember since his days in his old cell. He guessed the young woman must have been stuck in that cell or maybe Youngblood never told her he was moved.

"I've been wondering when you would show up. I dunno how long they've had me here, but it's nicer than the other place I was in," said Danny. His voice was terribly raspy from disuse and Ember could barely make out what he said, let alone what it really meant.

She had caught wind in the Ghost Zone that Phantom was back after disappearing for three months. There were dozens of rumors surrounding the disappearance; many thought he had been taken with the rest of Amity Park, but others thought that hunters had finally gotten to him. She had managed to sneak out of one of the strictly guarded man-made portals just to figure out what happened.

By the looks of it, the half ghost had been starved and beaten, if the bandages and bony appendages were anything to go by. It almost worried her to see the heroic boy in such a state, but she suppressed the feeling in favor of seeing to her mission.

"What happened to you?" she asked, gesturing to the bandages. It had been so long since Danny last saw the pop-star, so he forgot how like his sister the blue haired ghost was. They both liked to ask him questions about his surroundings and who he was to make sure he didn't go too crazy or forget.

"Oh, these? They cut me open again, but I guess they got a better doctor to wrap me up so it looks better than normal." Ember's eyes widened and her mouth nearly fell open. She was just expecting him to say some excuse about a beating from another ghost or some amateur hunters. If what the boy said meant what she thought it did, then maybe she did have a reason to worry.

The way he said it, being so nonchalant and carefree about it, was throwing her off. He was talking about it as if it was an everyday thing to talk about. The smile that was still plastered on his face was unnerving her, too. How could someone in his position act so calm and happy?

Deciding to play along, Ember wiped away her surprise and sat on the end of the bed. "So, uh, looks like you've slimmed down since last time I saw you. Lunch Lady isn't gonna like that when she sees ya," she said trying to lighten the mood (the same mood that Danny seemed oblivious to).

The ghost boy gave a scratchy chuckle at her words. Personally, Danny thought he had been filling out better, but that wouldn't stop the Lunch Lady from reprimanding him for being too skinny. In his old cell, the large woman would summon up all kinds of food and make him eat it even though it wasn't even there.

"Ha, yeah, she'll have a fit when she sees me, but-" Danny halted when he saw the door open and a familiar middle aged man appear from it; whatever he had planned on saying died as he shrunk back into the bed.

Ember noticed the sudden change in attitude and turned to see what was setting the halfa off. Seeing the surprise written all over Vlad's face was one of the most satisfying moments of her life. To top it all off she decided to add in a snarky comment just to see his face twist in irritation.

"What's up Pops?" she smirked.

**Eh, a little shorter than normal, but it'll have to do for now. Hope for snowdays, so I can work on this more.**

**I always get confused by the reviews until I remember what I posted. Loved them, by the way-the reviews, that is. Like the cover? I finally decided to make one after I realized it had the same cover as the other ones and I wanted this one to be special.**

**As always, leave a review and I will love you with an intensity rivaling a puppy's love to his owner after being given bacon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**(Why do I keep forgetting this? I don't own Danny Phantom…but I'd like to…)**

It was hard enough having to deal with a mentally unstable teenager, but to deal with ghosts potentially messing with said boy's state? If his hair wasn't already gray, he would no doubt be graying faster than normal.

Vlad was back in his study pacing in front of Ember, who was sitting with her legs hanging over the arm of the chair, smirk planted on her pale face. He brought her there after seeing the panicking look Daniel had on his face; the last thing he needed was to send him into another fit.

After many minutes of watching the billionaire grind a hole into his study floor, Ember decided to break the silence.

"So, what's the deal with Dipstick?" Vlad paused in front of her, his gaze planted on the floor a few feet in front of him. When he looked to her, he wore a glare that clearly said she had done something wrong.

"You aren't supposed to be here." After Amity's disappearance and Daniel's reappearance, Vlad had taken extreme measures to ensure the boy's safety until he was ready to associate with other people. Said measures included sealing as many portals to the Ghost Zone as possible and having guards at every entrance that could not be closed.

By doing so, he would minimize any damage they might cause in other towns as well as keep them from causing any trouble that might attract the hero side of Daniel. The boy could barely sit up in his own bed, let alone fight ghosts all day. Not to mention his inability to even get near people without having a mental break down.

Ember gave Vlad a flat stare that stated 'like I care.' Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, the billionaire paced another lap around his study. Rolling her eyes, the pop-star continued.

"Look, I just wanted to know what was goin' on 'round here, especially with Phantom. And I wanna know what's up with the portals. It's not every day someone goes through so much trouble to keep the ghosts in the Zone. It just so happens I found the kid before I could snoop around your stuff to find any real answers."

"You were going to go through my stuff?" exclaimed Vlad with a furious glare. Ember held her hands up in an innocent fashion and leaned deeper into the chair.

"Hey, if anyone's to blame here, it's your trusty little sidekick, Skulker. He's the one that wouldn't tell the rest of us what he knew. If he would've told us, I wouldn't be here right now. If ya ask me, Pops, you should give him a real scolding," she said, ending with a smirk.

Vlad growled in frustration, his eyes flashing a dangerous red at the teen ghost's antics. At least she was off the subject of Daniel, though, not that his private plans were any better a subject.

"So, what's up with the Dipstick?" Noticing the twitch in the halfa's eyes, Ember continued, "Yeah, thought ya had me there, huh? There's no way I'm lettin' go of Phantom's beaten state."

"That is nothing you have to worry about; I have the situation completely under control. Now, if you would be so kind as to leave me alone, I would be very appreciative," Vlad retorted. He was sick of having to deal with the stubborn pop-star and her nosing into his personal affairs. He needed to end the encounter before he really lost his temper.

Ember gave him a long stare. Maybe if she tried hard enough he would give in and spill the beans…or burst into flames. Unfortunately, the stare of a teenager could not out-last the stare of a long time businessman. With a huff, she dramatically lifted herself from her seat and floated high enough so she could be face to face with the taller half-ghost.

"Fine old man, have it your way. I'm outta here, but you're gonna regret not tellin' me now."

With that, she brought her boots back to the ground and promptly stomped out of the study to God knows where. For all the elder cared she was going out to take over the world with that hideous racket she called music.

Deciding to put the unmanageable teen out of his mind, Vlad walked to his desk and collapsed in his heavily cushioned chair. He was going to have a talk with Skulker and the guards when he saw them again.

* * *

It had been a few hours since Ember left his study and Vlad had finally gotten to the paperwork he'd been putting off. He was proud to say he was actually being productive and moving through the ominous pile of wasted tree quite fast for all he had on his mind.

Despite her leave, Ember kept making appearances in his train of thoughts. She pulled a daring move invading his castle and his business like she did. If she were still alive he would put plans in motion to socially ruin her like every other person that moved in on his private matters. That did enough damage to grown men, but with the way teenagers valued their social status she would be wishing she was dead.

That girl also left Daniel in a fragile state. He looked absolutely panicked when he walked in on them earlier that night. He had a difficult enough time trying to deal with the bare minimum of people Vlad had to send in his room, the last thing the boy needed was another person added in his life. Vlad counted himself lucky the boy hadn't broken down when he came in and dragged the pop star out.

The businessman paused in his reading of yet another contract and rubbed his stinging eyes. While doing so he let out a yawn and stretched his legs out underneath his desk. Noticing how dry his throat was, the halfa reached for the glass of water sitting on his desk.

That's when his ears caught an almost distant sound. If Vlad had closer neighbors he would assume the sound was coming from them; there was no one in his residence that would be making such loud noise so late at night.

Sitting as still and silent as possible, Vlad perked his ears to distinguish what the noise was. It couldn't be a plane; it would have passed already. The same goes for a car or truck. This particular sound was constantly going.

In the stillness the billionaire realized his seat was vibrating. Confused, he looked at his glass of water, bringing his eyes even with the surface of it. There were tiny tremors rippling through it indicating the desk was vibrating as well. Added to the noise was the slight rattle of small statues and lamps moving on the coffee table and side tables, indicating the entire room, and probably house, was vibrating.

The noise had to be near. If it was causing his entire castle to shake, Vlad decided it had to be coming from within the building. But who would be stupid enough to sneak in his house and cause so much noise, unless that was the plan all along. In which case, he found no point to such a plan.

Suspicious, the halfa grabbed a remote from the lower drawer in his desk and aimed it over the fireplace. Pressing the power button on the remote, a TV revealed itself and flickered to life showing a live video feed of the entry hall of the castle.

Seeing no one on the screen, Vlad pressed another button that changed the screen to the living room. That being absent of intruders, he clicked the button again to show another room; Daniels room to be exact.

The boy seemed to have noticed the noise as well. Vlad thought he would be freaking out from the vibrations and noise, but instead the teen was almost in a trance. He was above his covers sitting up with his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His eyes were wide open, staring ahead at nothing. Considering his breathing looked normal and he wasn't shooting or stabbing his surroundings, Vlad decided to let him be. No need disturbing him with nothing too visibly wrong.

Vlad glanced around the rest of the room and again saw no one with Daniel. With the click of a button, the screen changed to a different room. The billionaire repeated the process, checking every room for intruders or any source of the obnoxious noise that Vlad realized had a rhythm to it now. Once through all the rooms, he turned the TV off and leaned back in his chair.

His brief search through the castle led him nowhere. Running a hand over his silver hair, the man resigned himself to listening harder to figure out what the sound was.

From his study the noise was muffled and he couldn't even pick out the exact rhythm. Pulling out his enhanced ghostly hearing, Vlad listened again.

It sounded up-beat. There were definitely drums and a guitar.

_Your heart, your heart has mended_

_Your wrong, now bear the shame_

He was beginning to hear some words now. Turning his chair around Vlad found the music louder towards the windows. He got up and cracked them open.

_Like pleasant dreams, in cold December_

_Nothing but ashes remain_

The music was a lot easier to hear from outside where it was no doubt coming from. Now that he could hear it clearly it sounded sort of familiar to him. It sounded like something a teenager would want to listen to.

_Oh, Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Ember, wins the medal_

_You will remember my name_

Vlad felt his blood boil. He told her to leave him alone thereby meaning leave his property! Now that infernal teen was blasting her retched music somewhere around his castle and he had a feeling it was just to push his buttons. Was she honestly that set on having her way?

His face twisting in rage, the billionaire let two dark rings pass over his body to transform him into Plasmius and grabbed the edge of the window. With a growl he threw the window the rest of the way open and charged into the chilling night air. A quick scan of the area told him there was no one on that side of the building, so he flew to the next side and the next.

Ember wasn't anywhere on the ground or in the sky from what Vlad could see. Deciding to get a better view of the grounds, he bolted high into the sky right above the castle to gets a bird's eye-view. There was no one floating above the expansive woods and no ghostly glow coming from inside the woods.

Now Vlad was becoming frustrated. How could that girl be hiding from him? If she was really trying to get his attention, she wouldn't bother keeping her band invisible, so maybe she was higher up than him? Or would she go to such lengths as to be stationed at the nearest town or force her music onto every radio and TV she could get to? No, she would need Technus's help for that.

The halfa growled again and his hands came aflame with ecto energy in his frustration. Maybe he just missed her in his initial search of the castle. Still from his higher position, Vlad slowly turned and carefully scanned his blood red eyes through every crack and crevice he could see around him.

Nothing.

That is until he caught a glow at the corner of his eye and snapped his head towards it. Glowering, Vlad made his way to the source of the glow which happened to be a teenage pop star with her ghostly band just finishing their song on his rooftop.

The fact that she was so out in the open and in an obvious spot just made the businessman angrier and he shot down to the band. Trying to show his anger and authority, he zoomed right up to Ember, towering over the girl and glaring down at her. "What in Heaven's name do you think you are doing here?" he ground out.

The undead teenager was unfazed by the man's dramatics; if given the proper motivation, she could be ten times more dramatic considering her teenage rock star status.

"Ms. Mclain, you have ten seconds to-"

"Oh no you don't, old man, _you_ have ten seconds to tell _me_ what is going on around here or so help me I will release 50 years' worth of neglected teenage drama on your half dead ass." There was no way Ember was going to let the man in front of her brush her off again and continue keeping his little secrets. She, and every other ghost in the Zone, wanted answers and she was going to get them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Plasmius now had the girl over his shoulder and bound with ecto energy binds on her hands and legs. As an afterthought he had added one to her mouth, too, so he wouldn't have to listen to the vile words coming from it.

As Vlad fazed them down to his lab, the pop star tried to kick and worm her way out of his grasp to no avail. With one arm he held her waist and with the other he pressed some buttons on the control panel of his portal. In a heavy _whoosh_, the doors opened to reveal the swirling green of the Ghost Zone behind it.

Vlad then hefted Ember off his shoulder and held her in front of him by her own shoulders. He leaned in close and narrowed his eyes at her. "It would be best if you minded your own business, child, and stay in the Ghost Zone until I deem it necessary for you to come back out. Understand?" he warned her.

Her only response was a heated glare. They stayed in a stare down for a few moments before Vlad unceremoniously threw her into the Zone. When the portal doors closed, he released his energy from the bonds, so they would break easily off the girl.

Knowing Ember would be out of his hair, the billionaire took a deep breath to calm himself down and floated up to his room for some well needed sleep.

* * *

When morning came around, Vlad found it increasingly hard to get up. It had been a late, stressful night and his bed was swallowing him up at the moment, so he didn't really see any reason he should remove himself from it. That's when he remembered the state Daniel had been in when he checked on him through the hidden camera.

Heaving a sigh, the halfa forced himself up and looked at the clock by his bedside. It was almost time for him to go check on the boy. He could lie in bed a little longer and come see the younger halfa later, but all the time Daniel had spent in his care had been carefully scheduled and constant. Missing that unspoken appointment for even one morning might do more damage to the teenager than Vlad wanted to think about.

After a brief shower, Vlad was on his way to Daniel's room. As he came to the door he greeted Erickson who was on his way out with a tray of dishes. "He's a bit off today, sir," the butler informed him in passing. Before he could ask what was wrong, the older man walked off to drop the dishes off to the kitchen.

Concerned, Vlad entered the room. Inside, Daniel looked up at the other man with an expression bordering worry. In turn, the businessman matched his expression and came closer slowly hoping to not send the boy into any panic attacks. The teenager didn't move, just followed Vlad with his blue eyes.

The older halfa took a seat in the chair always by the younger's bed. There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared at one another.

"The humming came back last night. I think they moved me back to my old cell," stated Daniel in a raspy whisper. This caused Vlad's eyebrows to furrow.

"The humming?" he inquired. The boy simply nodded his head in response.

"It's nice there. They don't hurt me in that cell," he continued. "In the new one they hurt me a lot. I had to hope in that cell and it hurt." Here he paused as if thinking about that cell. His face changed from worry to sadness to fear in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly Daniel was shaking and wrapping his arms around himself, his eyes unfocused. Noticing the signs that the boy was close to hallucination, Vlad quietly left. Maybe if he didn't see Vlad, Daniel would be able to bring himself back before anything bad happened. The billionaire stood outside the boy's room to make sure the silence stayed and was reassured when it did. Slowly, he made his way to his study to do some much needed thinking.

It was a few days later, while he was watching football in the theater room, that Ember Mclain (who he swore he'd thrown back into the Ghost Zone a few days previous) came bolting in yelling something about "breaking the Dipstick." With a promise to break the pop star later, Vlad rushed up to Daniel's room to find the boy hyperventilating and on the verge of a mental breakdown.

**Thank you to all my subscribers that didn't look at the notification for this story and go "eh, I'm over that story now." I love you all very, very much. There's no way I can express my gratitude enough, and to all the favoriters and reviewers. I'd give you excuses, but I know you don't really care about those, so if you don't hate me too much, please leave a review.**

**I do not plan on abandoning this story in any way. I'm just having a hard time writing through this section because my mind is stuck at the end of the story already. The middle is just little scenes and ideas that need to be connected right now.**


	7. Chapter 7

It was late. Past midnight. Danny had to pee.

That doctor that came in every couple days had given him a bedpan since he couldn't get out of bed without an immense amount of pain. That was cool and convenient and all, but he was getting sick of using it; he'd rather use the actual bathroom. It'd been forever since he'd used one of those, even a fake one.

But that hurt. A lot. Did Danny really want to put himself through that pain just to use an actual toilet?

Lazily, Danny turned his head to the side to look at the door to the bathroom connected to his room. His eyes moved from the door to the clock on his bedside table, then back to the door. It'd been nearly twenty minutes since he woke up with the need to relieve his bladder. If he didn't make a decision soon, he would probably wet himself.

He was sure the hallucinations already thought of him as weird enough without adding bed-wetter to the list of his issues. He could have peed by now if he hadn't had the sudden need to travel the short distance to his bathroom. When he thought about it, Danny figured he wouldn't have that need in the first place if the agents would just take him out of his cell for a minute or two.

It had been weeks since the last time he remembered being taken from his new cell. He was getting restless having to stay in one place for so long, no matter how comfy it was. The new setting his mind placed him in could only hold his attention for so long when he knew there were doors that lead to even more interesting places. Thinking that over, Danny made his final decision.

Breathing deep, the young halfa heaved his body to the side, putting him almost on the edge of the bed and facing the bathroom door. His face scrunched up in pain and his body tensed with the whole movement. In the moments he took to make himself relax, Danny rethought his plan.

Maybe he didn't want to use the toilet; his bedpan never failed to work and the effort it was going to take to get across the room was becoming more and more unappealing by the painful second. But when the teenager opened his eyes again they landed on the bathroom door that lay mockingly open and he felt a rush of motivation. He could barely see the black and white tiled floor and black marble counter tops in the small room. Just above the counter was a long mirror that allowed him to glimpse even farther into the room.

He stared through the doorway at that mirror seeing an expensive looking shower and tub, and, in the farthest corner of the reflective surface, he could see the toilet. Yes, he resolved, he was going to see every part of the world his insane mind put him in no matter the cost.

The pain emanating from his chest was numbing to the point that he could relax again. Taking another deep breath, Danny prepared himself for the next step. He'd have to do this as quick as possible; like taking off a band-aid; just get it over with. As he released his breath, he released all the mixed, twisted thoughts clouding his mind and focused purely on the bathroom.

Mind thoroughly emptied, he launched himself up, swinging his legs onto the floor, and propelled his body in the direction of the doorway. The seconds it took to get to the bathroom had his legs burning from lack of use and sharp pangs filling his chest, but they slipped his mind as easily as the memories of his life from before.

Before he knew it he was laying on the bathroom floor, the tiles cooling the pain in his back and flaming limbs. The ceiling, he noticed, had black designs painted by the corners of the room accenting the beautifully carved molding of the wall. The shower was surrounded by fogged glass and made of similar black marble as the long counter tops opposite of it. The tub was also quite large and made him realized the bathroom itself was larger than he originally thought.

Danny could only relish the beauty of the lavish room for so long before his purpose for coming there in the first place made itself known. The young halfa reluctantly moved his head to look above him where a shining porcelain throne was. With a groan, he plopped his head back down to prepare for the journey to the toilet.

Fifteen minutes later found Danny panting at the edge of his bed where he had fallen. The top half of his body was partly strewn across the bed, the bottom half was crumbled at the floor. Part of him wanted to never do that again if it continued to cause him so much pain, but the thrill of having actually gone somewhere not only after staying still for so long, but having done it on his own outmatched the pain.

Now that he was sitting still again, the teenager felt the pain coming back tenfold. Sharp pangs bolted up and down his sore body. His head throbbed from a headache that was forming from the many times he fell through his travel and it hurt to breathe, now. It was moments like these that made the boy want to crawl in a hole and die. He doubted there were any holes in his cell, though, or that the agents would let him die in the first place.

Finally, Danny's breathing was somewhat close to normal; at least it was quieter. He reveled the quiet atmosphere. While his sleep should be peaceful, he was instead haunted by past experiments and modes of torture. Sometimes it was just the humming of his old cell. Even now he could remember the hum and the soothing vibrations it caused.

He could feel those vibrations floating through his aching limbs. Thinking about them, he felt himself drift into sleep, his eyelids growing heavier with every wave. He wanted to feel them more, so he heaved his limbs up one by one onto the cloud-like bed. Danny then positioned himself to sit back against the headboard, arms limp beside him, just enjoying the familiar sensation.

And then it clicked; those weren't just his imagination. He could actually feel the room vibrating.

Fear grasped his chest, making it feel tight and choking him. His breath hitched and the implications of the vibrations making their return fell heavy on his weak shoulders. Knowing he was back in his old cell was comforting and terrifying all at the same time. The cell itself was a comfort, as always, to be in; it was his safe place.

The vibrations being detectable in his hallucinated world was what unnerved him. He had gone a record number of days in his limbo, not having to see the agents or feel the burn of weapons and poison on his sensitive skin. If he could feel those vibrations, then his mind must be slipping back to reality, the very last place he wanted to be.

Danny curled in on himself atop the bed he grew to love. He wished they would drug him up again so he could stay in his illusion. If he hadn't lost all his tears early on in his stay with the Guys in White, he would let them all fall at once.

* * *

A few days later, Danny was still recovering from the vibrations he had felt that night. Since then he hadn't seen Ember or even heard any of her music like he sometimes did after her visits. Sadness blossomed every time he thought about the undead pop star. She always had something interesting to say when she stopped by and that was what he really needed at the moment.

The young halfa knew the doctor, butler, and Vlad were worrying about him more. The number of worried glances he received during their visits grew marginally since Ember's appearance. Maybe they didn't like her hanging around him. Figures men would be the ones to take away anything that made him even the slightest bit happier, even in his illusions.

Once again, Danny was alone in his room. He hadn't felt his old cell since he fell asleep the first time and he hadn't been thrown back to reality yet, either. Now he spent his days waiting and listening. It was like a trance taking its hold on him as he always had to keep his guard up, so when he was forced to the reality of torture and pain he would be ready.

It was in that trance that Ember found him when she visited that afternoon.

After the livid ghost girl was thrown into the Ghost Zone, she gathered Desiree, Technus, Johnny, and Kitty to concoct a plan. Desiree was able to use some womanly persuasion, much to her chagrin, to distract the male ghost guarding Vlad's portal. While she did that, Technus snuck in and used his tech abilities to crack the code on the portal.

From there, Ember, Johnny, Kitty, and Technus snuck in, the latter three hiding within the basement lab while Ember creeped through the Wisconsin castle in search of Danny's room. If she was caught and thrown back, the other three would take turns trying to get information from either Vlad or Danny.

The teenage boy was staring straight ahead. No emotion played on his face and his eyes didn't even turn to Ember when she phased in. She fleetingly thought Vlad might be trapping the phantom in his castle and Danny realized it just recently since he was acting so weird. Figuring she needed to break him out of his trance the pop star floated over to him and sat down in the bed right in front of him, criss-crossing her legs.

Ember barely caught his eyes twitch to actually look at her instead of through her. A smile spread on the ghost boy's face, stretching stiff muscles. "I thought Vlad was keeping you away from me," Danny said in his raspy whisper, "I don't think he likes you with me, but I like you here, so I'll let you stay."

There was that strange way of speaking, thought the pop star.

"Vlad might be able to throw me out, but he can't keep me away for long. I have my ways" Ember said with a wink. "So, why're you here?"

"What?"

"Why're you here, at Vlad's? Did he kidnap you? Did ya finally turn to the 'dark side?' What's the deal here and why are you acting so weird?"

It took a minute for Danny to catch up to the rapid fire of questions. He didn't know the answer to most of them. The hallucinations only ever asked questions that he knew the answer to no matter how ill his mind was, so why were they asking different ones now?

"I-I...uh...I'm not?" the boy stuttered, his face falling and fear grasping him.

"Not what?" She wasn't going to let him confuse her with his cryptic answers.

"R-real...this isn't real...not Vlad's..." Danny backed his head away from the pop star and played with his hands nervously. His sky blue eyes flickered between the ghost's fiery green ones and anything else in the room as he tried to form a real answer for the girl.

"Dipstick, you'll have to do better than that." she grabbed the boy's chin and forced him to look her in the eyes. At the movement, the halfa flinched and tried to pull away, but her firm fingers kept their hold. "I'm not leaving here till I get the answers I want and you can't trick me with this little act you got goin' on."

Ember had decided that the ghost boy in front of her couldn't actually be in some deranged state. He was stronger than that, a fighter all the way. All the ghosts knew that from the start, that's why they always came back to fight the young hero. He was their greatest entertainment and he couldn't be broken, he had to be acting like that just to get Vlad to let him go or the pop star to leave.

She was just as confused as Danny appeared to be. Everything just happened so fast and nobody had any answers to the strangeness; all she wanted was to get one straight answer. Why did Phantom disappear? Where did her and the other ghosts' favorite haunt vanish to? Why were Phantom and Plasmius acting so weird lately? She refused to leave until she got an answer to at least one of her questions.

Absently, Ember realized Danny was trembling slightly in her clutch. Ignoring him, she continued her small rant.

"C'mon, Phantom, stop staring at me like a scared puppy and answer me," the boy's eye twitched when the ghost said his name. "What's wrong with you! Three months ago you would've beaten me for coming at you like this, now you're just sitting there." Ember thought the halfa looked sorta like a goldfish. His eyes were wide open, his mouth stuttered and tripped on itself, and he twitched like a fish in a bowl did.

"Gah-I can't hit you if you keep acting like this and you know it don't you? You're too pathetic to hit right now-"

"No!" Danny exclaimed. He was done with the pop star yelling at him. If she was real it wouldn't matter as much to him, but she was a figment of his screwed up imagination and he wouldn't stand letting the inner workings of his mind reprimand him for how he was.

The boy wretched his head away from Ember and blindly grabbed at the arm still outstretched to him. If he ever tried to touch the hallucinations they vanished in the wind and he expected her to do just that; vanish. But then he grabbed her arm.

And she was as solid as the tile floor he fell on a few nights ago.

He froze all major body movements and his grip tightened on Ember's arm. If possible, his eyes grew wider and his body trembled more. He could feel Ember's arm. She didn't vanish. She was real. If she was real, then was everything else real; Vlad, the room, the maids and other people that visited him? But it couldn't be real! Nothing was real but pain and torture.

Danny suddenly found it hard to breath and found himself trying to take large gulps of air. His grip on Ember kept tightening and the girl found it hard to believe how strong it could be considering how weak the boy it belonged to looked. Said boy was wheezing now and looked like he wanted to cry, but couldn't muster the tears to do so.

"Ow, hey Dipstick, let go," Ember said while tugging her arm. She gave a hard pull and was surprised when the halfa actually let go, sending her flying on her back on the fluffy bedding. Danny was thoroughly hyperventilating, now, and his frantic gaze jumped from one part of the room to another.

It was all too much for him. What was real anymore? Ember and the room faded away and memories flashed through his mind's eye of the last day he remembered being in his old cell. There was a lunch tray, he was walking down the halls, but no agents were escorting him. The stars! He got to see the stars that night accompanied by a couple dozen agents pointing guns at him.

There was a light, too. So bright. He could see it now, how everything froze before his tear clouded eyes. Dozens of white clad government agents covered in crystal and snowflakes. They were like perfect ice sculptures, their sickly pleasured faces still in place behind the clear, smooth ice.

He didn't stay long enough to find out if they got out of their prisons. Danny was in the air, now in his withered ghost form. Nothing registered in his mind besides how nice the stars would look at Vlad's castle with the city lights too far to pollute his vision. He wanted that, wanted to feel the safety the stars provided him every night that they watched over him when he fought ghosts, or felt sad, or needed escape.

He remembered the elation he felt at seeing Vlad's Wisconsin castle and the clear sky. He remembered the shock on Vlad's lonely face. He remembered the pain of his injuries crashing into him full force.

When Danny woke from his memories, he was still hyperventilating and had curled in on himself. His bony fingers dug into his dark hair and his trembling hadn't given the slightest hint of letting up. He didn't notice the absence of Ember until she and Vlad came bursting into his room. Vlad rushed to the table at the side of Danny's bed and tore the drawer open, looking for something.

The younger halfa watched the man that just hours ago was a hallucination to him, as he pulled a syringe filled with sedative out of the table compartment. The older man turned to his young charge and was surprised when the boy looked him right in the eyes, making him pause.

"Y-you...you're real...?" he asked it like a question, but Vlad knew it was more of a statement. The older halfa set the sedative to the side and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't know what to do with the drastic change in the boy's viewpoint. He thought it unfair to Danny to send him into unconsciousness when he so clearly needed to figure out what was going on, but what could Vlad say to the boy?

The businessman lifted his hand to comfortingly set on Danny's head, but rethought it when memories of the boy's past reactions to his touch did to him. Pulling his arm back, the man decided to give control to the young halfa, so he could decide what he needed. A shaking hand pulled Vlad out of his thoughts by grabbing onto his casual T-shirt, a luxury he saved for football days.

Danny was trying to calm himself, grabbing anything as if to help pull himself out of his melt down. If anything, his breathing became more labored than before and he could feel his brain going fuzzy from panic. He looked into the faces of the billionaire and ghost teen in front of him, both creased with concern, and watched as they blurred in and out of focus.

Before he could address either of them with the questions on the tip of his tongue, they were gone and the world before him faded to nothing.

**Sorry that the events are overlapping so much in the last few chapters. That will change when the characters are more on the same page in sanity and what they're up to.**

**I don't have a great idea on what the next chapter will be about, so don't be too surprised if it does take a little longer to get up. I'll also be busier the next couple weeks, so not much time to write. I won't make you guys wait as long as the last long break, though. If it seems like that's happening, send me a PM or review to yell at me ;)**

**Thank you reviewers, followers, and favoriters for being awesome! Keep it up!**


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